Energy Resources Program
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Press Release & Publication This is the largest estimate of continuous oil that USGS has ever assessed in the United States. Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey assessed technically recoverable mean resources of 20 billion barrels of oil and 16 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Wolfcamp shale in the Midland Basin part of the Permian Basin Province, Texas.
Friday, July 22, 2016
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Wednesday, June 08, 2016
Press Release & Publication The Mancos Shale in the Piceance Basin of Colorado contains an estimated mean of 66 trillion cubic feet of shale natural gas, 74 million barrels of shale oil and 45 million barrels of natural gas liquids, according to an updated assessment by the U.S. Geological Survey. This estimate is for undiscovered, technically recoverable resources.
Tuesday, May 03, 2016
USGS Publication: Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5008 The recent successful development of a tight oil play in the Eocene-age informal Uteland Butte member of the lacustrine Green River Formation in the Uinta Basin, Utah, using modern horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques has spurred a renewed interest in the tight oil potential of lacustrine rocks.
Friday, March 11, 2016
Thursday, December 17, 2015
USGS Publication: Fact Sheet 2015-3078 Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean volumes of 53 trillion cubic feet of shale gas, 172 million barrels of shale oil, and 176 million barrels of natural gas liquids in the Barnett Shale of the Bend Arch–Fort Worth Basin Province of Texas.
Friday, October 23, 2015
USGS Publication: Digital Data Series 69-MM From 2000 to 2011, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted 139 quantitative assessments of continuous (unconventional) oil and gas accumulations within the United States.
Tuesday, October 06, 2015
Press Release & Publication Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey assessed mean volumes of 21 million barrels of oil (MMBO), 27 billion cubic feet of gas, and 1 million barrels of natural gas liquids in two assessment units (AUs) that may contain continuous oil resources. Mean volumes of oil for the individual assessment units are 14 MMBO in the Monterey Buttonwillow AU and 7 MMBO in the Monterey Maricopa AU.
The USGS Energy Resources Program provides periodic assessments of the oil and natural gas endowment of the United States. New, prioritized, assessment results, as part of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) and the current National Assessment are shown above. Additional EPCA and priority basin assessment results will be posted as they become available.
Christopher Schenk Project Chief
Inventory of Onshore Federal Oil and Natural Gas Resources and Restrictions to Their Development (Phase III Inventory - Onshore United States)
Scientific Inventory of Onshore Federal Lands' Oil and Gas Resources and the Extent and Nature of Restrictions or Impediments to Their Development (EPCA Phase II)
Scientific Inventory Onshore Federal Lands' Oil and Gas Resources and Reserves and the Extent and Nature of Restrictions or Impediments to their Development (EPCA Phase I)
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Resource Assessment
American Association of Petroleum Geologists
Bureau of Land Management
Page Last Modified: Friday, November 06, 2015